


now it’s just a classic

by kireinayuta



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, 90’s au, Alternate Universe - High School, Feel-good, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, Lee Jeno is Whipped, Lollipops, M/M, Midnight dates, Milkshakes, Na Jaemin is Whipped, Popular Lee Jeno, Self-Indulgent, Sneaking Out, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, just a lot of fluff, preppy na jaemin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:48:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27995544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireinayuta/pseuds/kireinayuta
Summary: Five times pretty preppy Na Jaemin hides his smile from the cute popular goof Lee Jeno, and the one time Jeno manages to see it.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 26
Kudos: 359





	now it’s just a classic

**> one** ****

Seven in the morning is the worst time to be awake, Jaemin concludes, bleary eyed and barely awake, lugging himself down the sidewalk and begging he gets to make the journey to school alone. 

But that is never the case when you’re friends with Yangyang, who always manages to bounce up next to you when you’re not paying attention, effectively catching you off guard and giving you a heart attack. 

“Good morning!” Yangyang chirps, like he always does, like Jaemin always thinks is too cheerful for this hour. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby,” Jaemin scoffs, answering Yangyang’s the question the way he always does: ineffectively. He figured Yangyang would have pieced together not to ask anymore by this point, but he’s always been stubborn, so Jaemin truthfully isn’t too surprised. 

When Yangyang put his mind to something, he could very well accomplish it. 

“So not too well?” he grins, and Jaemin kind of wants to wipe it right off of his face. But he doesn’t, because his own sourness doesn’t have anything to do with Yangyang. And anyways, he wishes he could be grateful to have the morning sun burn his retinas like Yangyang, but he rather likes to sleep all day instead.

“I will literally buy you lunch if it makes you shut up for the rest of the walk,” Jaemin negotiates, but once again, it’s  _ Yangyang  _ he’s talking to, so he shouldn’t have expected things to go by easily. Or in his favour. 

“I’d never do that to you, I know you’re saving up money for a car,” Yangyang tsks, and when Jaemin looks over, Yangyang is shaking his head. “What kind of best friend do you take me for?” 

Jaemin almost says that he takes Yangyang for the type of best friend who is easily bribed, but keeps it to himself since he knows that that isn’t the truth anyways. He was just too cranky to be thinking straight. 

“The kind who would listen to me,” Jaemin sighs, not having enough energy in him to protest when Yangyang links their arms together. “But alas, you're Yangyang.”

“And you’re Jaemin,” the other hums, and he starts skipping. But Jaemin is awake enough to put a stop to that, skipping being the last thing he’s eager to do right now. “So let’s hurry up, or else we’ll be late, and Shotaro won’t give us lollipops.” 

Jaemin thinks having a lollipop first thing in the morning wasn’t good for your health, or your teeth, but that never stops him from accepting Shotaro’s lollipops.

Yangyang manages to get them to school within the next ten minutes, and Jaemin would call it an accomplishment if he wasn’t always trying to haul their asses to school. 

Jaemin doesn’t understand the appeal of getting here when there were twenty minutes to spare, but Shotaro says the smell of the grass when no cars have occupied the parking lot was unmatchable, and really, who was Jaemin to argue with that logic? 

“Good morning!” a second cheery voice greets, and while Jaemin would have outwardly winced, he always thought Shotaro’s smile was too pure to try and taint. “Strawberry or orange?” 

“Definitely not strawberry,” Jaemin mumbles, reluctantly snatching the orange flavoured candy just so that he wouldn’t have to eat the strawberry flavoured one later on. “I don’t even know why you bother asking anymore.”

“Choices are always nice,” Shotaro grins, and once again, it’s too cute for Jaemin to want to outwardly roll his eyes. He does though, just in his head. “Up for milkshakes tonight?” 

“I’m—”

“—lactose intolerant, we don’t care,” Yangyang cuts off, shoving Jaemin by the shoulders. “It’s not our fault you were chosen to be amongst the weakest.”

“Hey!” Jaemin quips, offended. That’s enough to get him to use at least a little bit more of his energy, even if it was just one word. “I’m the only one here who can braid hair, so shut up!” 

“Oh yes, braids,” Shotaro hums happily, unwrapping his own lollipop. It’s dark red, and if Jaemin were to guess, cherry flavoured. “You’re so progressive.” 

Jaemin scoffs, but doesn’t say anything else. Instead, he unwraps his own lollipop and semi listens to the conversation Yangyang and Shotaro are having on either side of him. 

They’ve made it to the courtyard space with a bunch of picnic tables when Jaemin hears music blasting. It starts off as a soft and quiet noise, but as the seconds pass, the closer and louder the music gets. 

He doesn’t even need to turn around to know what it is, but that doesn’t mean he entertains it either. 

Or should he say, them.

Or even more technically,  _ him _ . 

Jaemin would not go as far as to call himself popular, because if he’s being honest, he isn’t. Only a few faces know him, and even then it’s because of shared classes, friends of friends, or simply being acquaintances. 

However, as of recently, and by that Jaemin means six or so months ago, more people have started to recognize him and say hello to him in passing. And if they didn’t, they recognized him and stared whenever he passed by. 

At first Jaemin thought it had something to do with how he had dyed his hair a light shade of brown, but then he had heard rumours, and everything fell into place. 

At the beginning of the school year, a new student had transferred into their graduating class. Jaemin wasn’t expecting much from the new student, and he didn’t even think they’d be more than just another face which blended into the crowd. 

Fast forward a few weeks though, and Lee Jeno had become their school’s sensation. He had apparently already been friends with Mark Lee, borderline the  _ most  _ popular boy at school, since they were childhood best friends. 

And honestly, it made sense. 

Jeno fits right into Mark’s friend group, the group of boys who sit in their three or so cars all day and listen to music which is way too obnoxiously loud to be on school property. 

As of recently, they also wear leather jackets everyday. Jaemin isn’t too sure if it means they’re blood bonded or something, but it’s a weird sight to see either way. 

Jeno’s friend group consists of Mark Lee, Wong Yukhei, Huang Renjun, Lee Donghyuck, and Wong Kunhang. While Jaemin had only known of their names prior to Lee Jeno’s arrival, Jaemin can now say he knows more of their little habits than he’d ever liked to have known.

Like how Donghyuck purposefully unbuttons and unzips all of his jacket’s pockets and belts so that it would make noise whenever he walks, or how Kunhang runs his hand through his hair too many times to be considered normal.

And just how does Jaemin know of all these little things, you may ask?

Well, it’s simple. 

The entire group of them don’t go anywhere without each other, and Jeno doesn’t leave Jaemin alone. 

It had been shocking at first, until Jeno popping up next to him had become a daily occurrence. Then it became annoying. And now, Jaemin has learned to live with it. 

Even if it does come in the form of avoiding Lee Jeno and his cronies in every possible way. He doesn’t even know how everyone else had dubbed the name of being a cronie, especially when they had already been the school’s most popular boys  _ before _ —

“Jaemin-ah!”

Even over the blaring music and the obnoxious laughter, Jaemin is able to hear who calls his name. And just  _ maybe  _ it’s because the voice is also familiar, or maybe it’s because Jaemin is traumatised from it. Either way, Jaemin almost bites down and crushes the lollipop between his teeth with how hard he clenches them at the call.

Jaemin is about to link his arms with Yangyang and Shotaro just so that he wouldn’t have to do this so early in the morning, but he’s too slow. Jeno pops up in front of him like he always does, his two eyes curving into crescents which replicate the moon in the night sky. 

Not that Jaemin thinks so and compares Jeno’s eyes to the moon— absolutely not. Shotaro’s eyes were prettier anyways. 

“Good morning,” Jaemin grits out, despite everything in him waiting to turn around and go to class, where it is a Jeno-free zone. But his mother had always told him that if one thing were to come and bite him in the ass, it would be how nice he was. He never understood that until Jeno had come into his life, but now Jaemin wishes he had heeded her warnings. 

“Morning,” Jeno grins, and once again, for seven in the morning, Jeno’s voice is miraculously energetic. And a bit soft, but Jaemin didn’t want to start complimenting him now. He liked Shotaro’s voice better anyways. “Great morning, good morning, best morning, hm?”

Jaemin can hear Mark and Yukhei snicker from where they’re watching Jeno, behind him and still sitting in their cars. He thinks they belong to Yukhei, Mark, and Kunhang, but he’s not too sure. They’re all driving each others’ anyway. 

“Sure,” he answers plainly, wanting to get this conversation over as soon as possible. It’s not necessarily that he hates Jeno, more just the fact that he would rather not waste his time with an insolent flirt who probably doesn’t know the first thing about commitment. And he wasn’t very eager for a heartbreak this early on into his life either. He still had so much potential to live up to, he hadn’t even left his hometown yet! “Is that all?”

There are multiple eyes on them, Jaemin can feel them. He’s just a bit used to it though, since there are always eyes on him whenever Jeno approaches him in public. It might be the way Jeno’s beat up sneakers and leather jacket contrast Jaemin’s crisp folded collar and sweater vests, but he’s not too sure. And quite frankly, not too intrigued to find out.

“Not yet,” Jeno hums, and Jaemin watches as he reaches into his pocket for something. Before he can retrieve that something though, Jeno’s eyebrows furrow and he immediately whips his head back around to where his friends are. 

Jaemin has plans to use this as an escape to turn around and leave before anything else can happen, but he thinks Jeno has picked up on his tendency to do that. Which is why Jeno’s hand grabs his wrist before Jaemin can so much as take a step in the other direction, hauling him with him as they go to where his friends are. 

Jaemin’s lollipop almost falls out of his mouth due to shock, but he manages to catch it with his unoccupied hand before it could hit the pavement and cause both him  _ and  _ Shotaro to be upset. 

“Where’d you put it?” Jeno asks right when they come to a stop, and Jaemin’s eyebrows furrow confusedly before he can stop them. “I left it in the back of Kunhang’s.”

“Look for it,” Kunhang grins, and Jaemin can see Jeno roll his eyes. When he looks away, he can also see Donghyuck grinning at him, and Yukhei waving at him. He waves back, but he doesn’t know what else he’s supposed to do with all of their eyes on him, as he awkwardly stands there with Jeno’s grip still on his wrist. 

“You’re so annoying,” Jeno groans, but his unoccupied hand dives into the center console between where Kunhang and Renjun are sitting anyways. It’s only then that Jaemin notices that Renjun is just sitting and drawing something in a sketchbook instead of paying anyone else any attention. “Did you have to be an asshole today?” 

“Everyday,” Donghyuck pipes up before anyone else can, and when Jaemin hears a ‘pop’, he sees Mark smacking on bubblegum loudly. It kind of makes him want some bubblegum, until he remembers he still has a lollipop in his mouth. “This is a full time job.”

“Right,” Jeno grumbles, but he stops abruptly when he seems to have found something. “Dude I swear, if the stem is  _ broken _ —”

And then, Jeno is pulling out a singular flower. 

Jaemin can’t tell what type of flower it is, just that it looks like the ones he used to draw in all of his books as a little kid. 

The stem is in fact  _ not  _ broken, and the petals are a pretty purple colour. It looks dainty, like the wind could break it, but even in Jeno’s big hand, it looks beautiful. 

“This is yours,” Jeno says when he turns back around to look at him, another grin on his face and the stem of the flower pinched between his fingers. “Pretty, just like you.” 

Jaemin gapes at Jeno’s words, eyes still trained on the flower and deaf to the way Jeno’s friends are all cooing over-exaggeratedly behind him, like a bunch of prepubescent boys. Jaemin thinks he sees Jeno’s eyebrow twitch, but it’s gone before he can be sure.

“Okay,” Jaemin robotically says, at a loss of what other words exist in his dictionary. What  _ is  _ he supposed to say to that? He’s never received… a singular flower from someone before. Especially one that looks like it’s just been picked from a garden. 

But he doesn’t move to take it into his hands, nor does he look away from it. He remains frozen, and more shocked than he probably needs to be. 

Can you blame him though? He’s more than a bit taken aback, seeing as this was the first time Jeno had actually done more than just shamelessly flirt with him in the hallways of school, the classroom, the courtyard during lunch and free time, or on the walk home. 

So he clams up a little now, admittedly, and he doesn’t know what to make of it when his lack of movement makes Jeno sigh fondly. 

Jaemin is about to be embarrassed and apologize before taking his flower and making sure never to show his face to Jeno or his friend group ever again out of mortification, but before he can do any of that, Jeno takes another step closer to him.

His leather jacket squeaks as he brings one hand up to Jaemin’s head, and the stem of the flower pricks his ear as Jeno gently places it behind. It’s itchy, and Jaemin is sure that the stem is too long to be tucked behind his ear like this, but he can’t find the words to complain. 

Not when his heart is beating like he had just run a marathon. 

He’s only ripped out of his dazed state when his lollipop slips from his mouth and hits the ground, cracking into two pieces and gathering his attention.

“Damnit!”

The last thing Jaemin hears before the bell rings and students are scurrying off to classes before a teacher can find them and write them a detention slip, is Jeno’s friends cackling at the scene they had just witnessed. 

The last thing he sees, however, is Jeno’s brilliant grin as he waves goodbye, before he’s being dragged away by Yangyang and Shotaro to their first class. 

  
  
  


**> two**

History class is Jaemin’s least favourite class for three, very prominent reasons. 

To start off, neither Yangyang nor Shotaro are in this class with him. He sits in the middle row on one end of the classroom, and while the desks are all singles, it still would’ve been more bearable with even just one of them. 

It was history too, Shotaro probably would have had some weird facts he knew for no reason, he reads all the time! And maybe Yangyang would’ve called for the teacher way too many times to ask redundant questions he would’ve known the answers to if he was just paying attention. 

But now, Jaemin will never know if those things would’ve happened. 

Anyways, he digresses. 

Secondly, this class was right after lunch. How was anyone supposed to focus right after lunch? Jaemin always feels way too sleepy to do anything after eating, and that paired with how drawed out the teacher’s voice is makes Jaemin want to fall asleep every second he’s in here. 

But that would mean his grades would take the hit, and he’s not too keen on letting that happen. He would’ve even been fine if he had math, or even language after lunch. Just not  _ history _ , where he could barely keep his eyes open or stop his ears from getting stuffed with cotton. 

And lastly, Donghyuck and Jeno are in this class. 

History is the only class that Jaemin shares with Jeno, and the only one where there’s more than one of them from the same friend group. 

Jeno and Donghyuck sit at the back of the classroom, true to their fashion. Jaemin has no idea if they actually pay attention in class, since he doesn’t bother to check. 

He does, however, always hear them snickering about one thing or another. As does everyone else in the class, but Jaemin feels like it’s only him that gets annoyed with it. Everyone else seems to give them a free pass since it’s, well, them.

And while Jaemin doesn’t understand that logic, he wasn’t about to start a whole intervention just to ask. It didn’t bother him too much anyways, if he could tune them out, then it was easy to focus.

Even if they were being exceptionally irritating today.

“Mr and Mr Lee,” the teacher sighs after some time, finally fed up by their antics. Jaemin is a bit surprised she even lasted this long, to be completely honest. “Discussing anything related to what I’m teaching?”

“No,” Donghyuck shamelessly answers, and Jaemin rolls his eyes. He wonders how many pairs of balls you need to openly admit something like that. 

If Jaemin were in their position, he’d flush red and promptly shut up for the rest of the school year. 

“Mind telling us what was so important then? That you had to waste class time instead of waiting for dismissal?” 

Jaemin winces, the sour tone in their teacher’s voice making his own neck flush, and no one was even paying attention to him. 

Jeno and Donghyuck, and their friends, always find themselves in sticky situations like these. Well, he guesses it’s not really sticky for them. But they’re annoying for the class, or at least, Jaemin thinks so. 

But when he cranes his neck just a little to see what’s going on, and  _ why _ Donghyuck isn’t answering their teacher anymore, he sees some of their classmates holding back laughter or snickering into their palms.

Jaemin doesn’t understand their humour, and he won’t try to. Instead, what catches his eye is the way Jeno has a hand clamped over Donghyuck’s mouth, effectively stopping him from speaking. 

When Jaemin looks closer at Jeno’s face, he sees that his eyes hold a dangerous warning in them, but even the sight of that isn’t enough to deter Donghyuck, who simply smirks. Jaemin can’t even see his mouth, but he knows just by Donghyuck’s eyes. 

“Well?” their teacher snaps impatiently, and Jaemin sighs. He might as well forget about the rest of the class. There are only fifteen minutes left, but with the rate things are going here, Jaemin doesn’t think they’ll be able to finish anything. “Care to share?” 

“No, he wouldn’t,” Jeno finally pipes up, speaking on behalf of Donghyuck since he still hasn’t uncovered the latter’s mouth. “He’ll be fine now, promise.” 

Jeno then smiles in that insurrable way that he always does, the way that has teachers’ hearts melting for him. Jaemin thinks it’s weird to this day how teachers let Jeno off the hook after one smile, but that was an entirely different thing on its own. 

“Now I can’t have you two think you’re off the hook,” their teacher starts, and Jaemin drops his pencil, finally. The rest of class was a lost cause, because now everyone was going to be entertained by whatever their teacher had in store. Except for Jaemin. He refuses to even turn around. 

“No, of course not,” Donghyuck agrees, nodding like he hadn’t just been promised a repercussion. 

“So what will it be? A pop quiz in front of the class or detention after school?” 

Jaemin once again winces, the bargain being nearly impossible. Jaemin would rather drop out of school before he let a detention sit on his squeaky clean record, but he’d also want to sink into the ground because of embarrassment if he were to verbally take a pop quiz in front of everyone. 

“We’re busy boys, y’know, places to be tonight,” Jeno says, tone indicating that he was contemplative. Jaemin knows he isn’t— it was just an hour ago at lunch that Jeno was talking about how he and his friends were going to go to the local diner after school. 

Coincidentally the day Jaemin, Yangyang, and Shotaro were planning to go, but the more Jaemin thinks about it, the less of a coincidence it becomes. 

“So we’ll take the pop quiz, teach!” 

Jaemin fiddles with his pencil as he waits for their teacher to finish writing down all the questions for Jeno and Donghyuck onto the blackboard, and he tunes out everyone’s voices around him. 

This was nothing but a waste of time, and if Jaemin knew history class would be about all of this in the last half, he would’ve left after the first. 

But alas, walking out of class unprecedented would also land him a detention, and Jaemin wasn’t too keen on that. 

“Mr Lee, what is the name of the ancient state which led to modern day Korea?” 

Their answers come simultaneously, because their teacher hadn’t specified  _ which  _ Lee she was asking, which leads to the answers of,

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“Na Jaemin.”

Alarm bells start ringing, going off in Jaemin’s head the second he hears his name slip off of Jeno’s tongue in the form of an answer, the obviously  _ wrong  _ answer, and his cheeks flush red. 

He wishes he was sitting at the very front so that no one could see the way he freezes like an idiot, but alas, the people sitting in front of him turn around to look at his reaction, and Jaemin’s neck just ends up burning red as well. 

Jaemin doesn’t dare turn around to look at Jeno, or Donghyuck for that matter, already knowing the former’s eyes are on him. He practically feels them, at this point, he’s accustomed to the feeling of them. 

He can’t even look up at the teacher, though he doubts she’s even the tiniest bit amused. 

“Zero points. What country controlled Korea up until the second world war?”

Jaemin prays to  _ some  _ deity up there that Jeno pulls it together and takes the looming threat of detention seriously, but once again, it’s Lee Jeno, and when has he ever taken anything seriously?

“This one’s easy, Japan.”

“Jaemin Na.”

More people laugh openly at Jeno’s second answer, and while Donghyuck had answered correctly, no one pays it any mind. 

If Jaemin could disappear with a simple snap of his fingers, then he would’ve by now. He’s not even angry or anything at this point, just terribly embarrassed. 

Which isn’t even fair, in the first place. First of all, Jeno should be the one who’s embarrassed, answering all these questions incorrectly. Why did he have to drag Jaemin into all of this? If Jaemin were to do this spontaneous pop quiz, at least he’d get all the answers right. 

“One point to Mr Lee,”

“She’s talking about me,” Jeno says smugly, and promptly earns Donghyuck’s elbow, most probably, bruising his ribs in return. 

“Shut the fuck up dude,” Donghyuck retaliates, but even Jaemin can tell by just his tone that he’s enjoying this way too much. Why was his misery always Donghyuck’s entertainment? It’s become a pattern now, he’s noticed. 

“Which Korean president enacted the Sunshine Policy?”

_ Kim Dae Jung _ , Jaemin answers in his head, lowering his eyes and focusing on the intricate wood pattern on his desk.  _ Please say Kim Dae Jung so we can all get this over with. Kim Dae Jung, Kim Dae Jung, Kim Dae— _

“The what—  _ what _ policy?”

“Jaeminnie.” 

If Jaemin wasn’t restrained enough, he’d slam his head onto the table and wish he blacks out so that he wouldn’t have to face the repercussions of Jeno’s actions. 

But he is restrained enough, not as unhinged as Yangyang, so all he does is close his eyes and will his cheeks to stop flushing like one of those anime girls. 

“His crush is getting extreme at this point,” he hears one of his classmates say, and Jaemin would be lying if he said his ears didn’t perk up. 

_ Crush? _

“Isn’t it getting sad? If I were Jaemin, I would’ve accepted his confession by now.”

But that’s the  _ thing _ , Jeno never said he had a crush, Jeno never said he  _ liked  _ him. So what confession was there for Jaemin to accept? There wasn’t even a hint for him to accept, as far as he knows. 

“Detention for you two,” their teacher ends up announcing, much to Jeno and Donghyuck’s chagrin. 

They both groan as they slump back into their seats, and Jaemin can’t help but feel like it was deserved for all of two reasons. 

For one, disrupting the entire class. For two, not paying enough attention to answer the questions. 

But when the dismissal bell rings and Jaemin makes it out of class before anyone else so that he doesn’t have to hear their whisperings and gossips, he urges his tiny smile to disappear. 

It felt weird knowing that someone had a (supposed) crush on you.

But it was a… good kind of weird.

  
  
  


**> three **

Jaemin is more than glad to skip over to the diner he, Yangyang, and Shotaro are going to under the guise of doing homework, despite knowing they’re just going to spend their weekly allowance and talk until their tongues turn numb. 

But hey, that was a different type of fun in itself! And Jaemin thinks he deserves the Friday treat. Shotaro does too, he had four tests this week. Yangyang… Jaemin doesn’t really think Yangyang ever deserves anything, so that’s a bit different. 

“Did you hear Jeno and Donghyuck got detention?” Yangyang asks, and although he doesn’t say it, Jaemin knows he expects him to answer, or know something about it. And even though he  _ does,  _ that doesn’t mean he wants to entertain Yangyang.

Sometimes he and Shotaro were as awful as everyone else at their school who relentlessly tells Jaemin to accept Jeno’s nonexistent confession. Can’t anyone tell the difference between someone having fun for their last year of high school versus actual feelings? Or was Jaemin the only one? 

Anyways, Jaemin rolls his eyes at Yangyang’s question, and pretends that he can’t hear Shotaro snicker. 

“I heard it’s Jaemin’s fault,” Shotaro hums happily, licking around what is probably his fourth lollipop of the day. Jaemin wonders how he doesn’t have rotting teeth, Shotaro’s teeth are even better than Jaemin’s teeth, and he’s had like three cavities in his whole life! 

“Oh was it?” Yangyang singsongs, and Jaemin can tell he’s enjoying it way more than he should. Doesn’t matter how many times Jaemin tells him to hop off it; Yangyang never listens to him. 

“It wasn’t,” he huffs in answers, picking up his pace and leaving his two other freidns snickering behind him. Shotaro and Yangyang are fine on most days, and then they pull bullshit like this and Jaemin thinks that it’s okay to abandon them on the side of the street like he’s seen people do with kittens. 

But then that makes you a monster, and Jaemin would not want to be referred to as a monster. 

Anyways, he digresses. 

“Are you two done? Can we have a nice afternoon? Or are you both going to keep being insufferable?” 

“Don’t be rude,”Shotaro frowns. “Yangyang is sensitive.”

“Sensitive my ass,” Jaemin grumbles, but doesn’t say more about the topic. Yangyang and Shotaro don’t either, so Jaemin relishes in the solace and changes the subject to talk about something they could all enjoy. 

The diner is always crowded after school, but that was because it was when people usually got off of work along with when students got out of school. Thankfully though, the booth that the three of them always sit at happens to always be available when they go in. 

The host is familiar with them, as he is with all of the diner’s regulars. His name is Taeil and he’s short. That’s the first thing you notice about him, along with him being the sweetest man with the softest voice is prettiest smile. He was also funny whenever he was angry, but that anger was usually directed towards the head cook, a tall teddy bear looking man, named Johnny. 

Taeil greets them like he always does, with a smile and their orders memorized. The three of them normally end up sticking to ordering the same thing all the time, and while some might call it boring, Jaemin calls it tradition.

Yangyang calls it a fear of trying new things, but once again, he dismisses what Yangyang says. 

“I heard there’s a new cook,” Shotaro comments matter-of-factly, and Jaemin would ask how he knows if he didn’t already know that Shotaro just… knows way too much. His ears were powerful like that.

“Know a name?” Yangyang asks, pulling a notebook and textbook out of his backpack, like he was going to get any work done in the first place. Jaemin doesn’t even know why he pretends at this point, just who was he trying to fool?

“Jungwoo, I think.”

Jungwoo is the one who serves them their food, and he even proudly admits that he made it himself. 

Jaemin had smiled and nodded, for the sake of being polite, but was pleasantly surprised to see that Jungwoo is actually decent. The food tastes the same, and that’s enough for him, Yangyang, and Shotaro to continue eating and chatting away. 

Halfway through their meals, Yangyang waves down Jungwoo again and orders three milkshakes.

“Three?” Jaemin questions accusingly when Jungwoo leaves, and all Yangyang does is smile innocently at him. That was never a good sign. 

“Why not? They have your favourite flavour as the special today,” Yangyang says, pointing to the drinks menu on their table. “See? Malt.”

Jaemin  _ does _ like malt, but he also likes not having an upset stomach. 

But malt…

“You're ridiculous,” he ends up seething, but Yangyang is Yangyang, and Shotaro is Shotaro, which is why neither pay him any mind and just giggle like the devil’s offspring they are. 

And Jaemin had the audacity to think that Shotaro would be like a baby angel. He was just up and coming Satan, if Jaemin was being honest. 

“You love me,” Yangyang huffs, and Jaemin forces himself to press his lips shut. He  _ does  _ love Yangyang, which is why he doesn’t want to say something stupid right now. 

Shotaro opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, Jaemin sees his eyes widen as he looks at something behind Jaemin. 

Curious, Jaemin cranes his neck around the same boisterous laughter coming from the front door, and it’s so boisterous, that Jaemin knows exactly what it is.

“You're kidding,” he groans, his eyes catching sight of Jeno Lee and his group of friends for half a second before he looks away. “Aren’t they supposed to be in detention?” 

Jungwoo comes back then, with three pretty, tall milkshakes balanced on a tray. He grins as he sets them down in front of them, and Jaemin internally winces at the sight, while his mouth simultaneously waters. 

Being lactose intolerant sucks. 

“Well, you know how he is,” Yangyang shrugs, grabbing one milkshake and immediately stirring his whipped cream in, because he was a heathen like that, and didn’t deserve much rights. “Probably promised the teacher to do an extra assignment he won’t end up doing.”

“Is that what you call pretty privilege?” Shotaro asks, and he takes a small spoon to eat his whipped cream straight up before even taking a sip of his milkshake. 

Why was he friends with them again?

“No,” Jaemin answers, putting his own straw into his milkshake. He’s normal, so all he does is take a small sip. “Because then you could get away with anything you wanted. I think it’s just… him being dumb.”

Yangyang rolls his eyes at this answer, but Shotaro looks endeared. He’ll take that over Yangyang’s attitude any day. 

“You think everything Lee Jeno does is dumb,” Yangyang points out, talking to Jaemin while his eyes follow the group of boys in leather jackets hop into a booth. “I think he’s just—”

“Na Jaemin!”

Jaemin bites down on his straw in frustration when he hears the voice, and he closes his eyes too when he sees Yangyang’s sparkle and Shotaro’s glint with amusement. 

Can he have a peaceful afternoon? Can he  _ please  _ have a peaceful afternoon? 

“You’re supposed to be in detention,” Jaemin says instead of a greeting, glaring at Jeno when he comes into his field of view. “With Donghyuck. Why are you two here?” 

“I got that detention because if you, you know,” Jeno says instead of answering the question, resting his arm onto the back of the booth Jaemin is sitting in, and his face is significantly closer now. “You weren’t the answer she was looking for.”

“Well of course I wasn’t,” Jaemin scoffs, silently cursing Yangyang and Shotaro for sitting next to each other instead of with him. Now he was vulnerable to Jeno, who seems to be leaning closer with every second which passes. 

“Her loss,” Jeno shrugs, and then he reaches over Jaemin to pick his straw right out of his milkshake, and Jaemin would protest if Jeno didn’t move so quickly. “Who cares though? You’re still my answer.”

And then, Jeno licks the whipped cream he had scooped with the straw, grinning at Jaemin right after. 

“You’re lactose intolerant,” he comments, and Jaemin would ask just  _ how  _ he knows, but Shotaro has a big,  _ big  _ mouth. An even bigger one when he wanted to use it to Jaemin’s demise. “Why’d you get a milkshake?” 

“I didn’t,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and watching as Jeno snatched his milkshake from right in front of him. His  _ malt  _ milkshake. “What are you doing?”

“Lookie,” Jeno simply says, bringing the glass to his lips and proceeding to chug down all of the milkshake in a little under ten seconds. “Now, your stomach won’t hurt.”

Jaemin gapes at Jeno’s reasoning, his tongue folding itself around in his mouth as he tries and fails to find something to say. 

“Have these too!” Yangyang suddenly exclaims, pushing Shotaro and his milkshakes to Jeno. “Jaemin said he wanted to drink these too, and we would've said yes. Look at that face, would you be able to resist?” Yangyang asks exaggeratedly, and Jaemin splutters. 

“That’s  _ not  _ what I said—” he tries, but Shotaro’s foot meets his shin under the table, and Jaemin yelps, cutting himself off. “ _ Shotaro _ .”

“Jaemin just really likes malt,” Shotaro says sadly, looking at him with pity right after. “He doesn’t know his limits either.”

_Of_ _course_ Shotaro and Yangyang would indulge in Jeno’s antics, _especially_ if it were at Jaemin’s expense. 

“You’re lying—”

But Jaemin can’t even finish, because Jeno takes Yangyang’s milkshake in one hand, Shotaro’s milkshake in the other, and then chugs them both one after another. 

But Jaemin doesn’t even look, just the sight itself upsetting his stomach. Jaemin can’t even have a slice of pizza without being cautious— how does Jeno just… do  _ that? _

“Jeno,” Jaemin grits out, ignoring the way Jeno burps loudly above him. “Go away,” he groans, turning his back on him and willing his stomach to relax. It’s not like he even had more than a sip of his milkshake, but Jeno’s white moustache which briefly comes into view isn’t helping either. 

“I just saved you,” Jeno huffs, and Jaemin can hear his leather jacket rustling, presumably standing up straighter again and leaning away. “And you toilet bowl, probably.”

“ _ Jeno _ ,” Jaemin groans again, turning an impossible shade of red. “We’re at a  _ diner _ .”

Jaemin doesn’t even need to turn around to know that Jeno shrugs. 

“I stand by what I said.”

  
  
  


**> four**

Jaemin doesn’t really do extracurriculars, because he’s always focused on studying and remaining on top of his grades. 

However, there is  _ one  _ club that interests him: chess club. 

Yangyang and Shotaro make fun of him for it, which is honestly rich coming from Shotaro, and make a point to make plans together without him on days he has chess club after school. 

Yangyang and Shotaro could mock him all he wanted, Jaemin has a feeling they’re just bitter because they’re not smart enough to play chess. 

Or at least, that’s what Jaemin tells him as he flips Yangyang and Shotaro off as they walk out the front doors of school, supposedly going to a cat café. 

He’ll be just fine without them. Jaemin likes the chess club; Dejun is in it, and Dejun is always fun. He’s quiet, but that’s also a nice breather from Yangyang and Shotaro. 

There are other people in the chess club, but Jaemin honestly only likes the way Dejun plays. He’s always calm and patient, and sometimes takes longer than five minutes to make a play. And Jaemin doesn’t mind, since he does the same, but he knows some of the other members do. 

Anyways, Jaemin walks into the library where the chess club is held, and sees that he’s the last one to arrive. He briefly blames it on Shotaro’s insistence that he help him find his gym shoes, but shuts that down when he decides he just doesn’t like blaming Shotaro for anything. 

Dejun is patiently waiting for him on the comfy red couches in the corner. The table in front of them has a black and white chessboard waiting to be played, and Jaemin scurries over. 

“Sorry,” he immediately says as he tosses his backpack to the side. “Friends were being annoying.”

“It’s alright,” Dejun hums, and this is just another thing Jaemin likes about him; how easy going he is. There aren’t many people who are patient like Dejun, and Jaemin appreciates it. “Ready to play?”

“Yeah.”

And so they play, and it goes like it normally does. Dejun always starts, because Jaemin just always lets him. 

Somewhere halfway through the game, they both end up taking longer to make their plays. The quick thinking turns into prolonged minutes, and at some point, Jaemin’s brow starts sweating too. 

Yangyang would make fun of him if he was here, but he isn’t, so Jaemin doesn’t feel irritated when he takes longer than usual to think about his next move. 

At the end though, just like always, Dejun somehow manages to win. 

It might be because Dejun actually plays for fun outside of the chess club, and for that, Jaemin can’t complain. 

“That was good,” he says once they start cleaning up the board. “You always make a good game.” 

“Thanks,” Dejun grins. “You’re getting better too. Next thing I know, you’re going to beat me for once,” he teases, and it makes Jaemin laugh.

No, he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to beat Dejun in a game of chess while they were still in school, but it does make for motivation. 

Jaemin and Dejun split ways after that, and Jaemin doesn’t realize how much time had actually passed by until he steps out of the school, and the sun has almost completely set. 

He sighs, the air having gotten colder without the brilliant warmth of the bright sun. 

This was the only time he wished Yangyang and Shotaro didn’t ditch him on days he had chess club after school, since he always had to walk home alone after that. 

And as much as Yangyang and Shotaro are infuriating, they're good company on the way home. 

Nonetheless, he can’t do anything about it now. 

So Jaemin just sucks it up and starts walking down the familiar path home, kicking pebbles to keep himself entertained in the silence. 

Except, the silence doesn’t last long, and he doesn’t even make it off of school property, before a pair of shoes stop in front of him, effectively trapping the pebble he was playing with underneath it. 

“Jaeminnie,” Jeno's familiar voice calls out, and Jaemin looks up, just to be met with the dark contours of Jeno’s face, courtesy of the low light. “What're you doing here so late?” 

“I could ask you the same thing,” Jaemin says back, surprised by Jeno’s presence, but not terribly. He’s used to Jeno popping out of nowhere by now. “It’s almost evening?”

“I was just going for a walk,” Jeno shrugs, following next to Jaemin when the latter steps around him and continues his way home. “Your turn.”

“Chess club,” Jaemin mutters, quieter than usual because he doesn’t know if Jeno was going to make fun of him for it or not. 

However, maybe he shouldn’t have assumed that, since Jeno seems to perk up beside him.

“Chess? Renjun loves chess! We play sometimes,” he says, and Jaemin finds himself grinning at the fact that Jeno plays chess. For some reason it just… was cute? Maybe? He thinks… “We should play together sometime,” he adds on flirtingly, and Jaemin rolls his eyes, but his grin doesn’t falter. 

“Whatever,” he huffs, finally moving his eyes from the pavement beneath him and to Jeno next to him. The yellow of the streetlights makes him glow in a different way to the way he does during the day at school, and even in the chilly wind, dare Jaemin say he looks… warmer? “Why are you following me?”

“I’m not following you,” Jeno scoffs. “I’m just walking  _ with  _ you.”

“And why?” 

“To walk you home,” Jeno answers, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. If Shotaro were here, he would tell Jaemin that it  _ was  _ obvious, and that he was just stupid. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do for people you find pretty?” 

Jaemin is glad the sun has set now, because he thinks that he’d rather walk home alone than have Jeno be able to see him blush at his words. 

“Say something like that again and I’ll throw you into the lake,” Jaemin grumbles half heartedly, something Jeno seems to be able to pick up on by the way he chuckles.

He listens though, and he doesn’t say much after that. There's amicable silence between them as they continue to walk, nothing uncomfortable and nothing which makes Jaemin regret not telling Jeno to leave him alone first. 

When they’re about halfway to Jaemin’s house, the breeze picks up enough to make him shiver, and like he should’ve expected, Jeno doesn’t miss the movement.

“Give me your bag,” he says, holding his hand out right after. 

“What?” Jaemin blankly asks, confused as towards why Jeno would suddenly want his backpack. 

“Give me your bag,” he simply repeats, but this time, he’s taking off his leather jacket as he does so. Now, Jaemin is even more confused, but he takes off his bag anyways, and hands it to Jeno. If there’s one thing he’s learned about Jeno, it’s that his intentions are never ill. “Now take this.”

Jeno is holding his arm outstretched, his jacket between his fingers in an offer to Jaemin. And before can stop himself, his lips part and he lets out,

“Huh?”

Jeno rolls his eyes, but he looks fond still, and shakes his hand a bit. 

“You want me to put it on for you? You’re cold, Jaeminnie, wear my jacket.”

And Jeno doesn’t look like he’ll be put at ease until Jaemin wears his jacket (or maybe that’s what he tells himself to hide how he wants to know what Jeno smells like), so he slowly takes the leather jacket from Jeno and slides his arms into the squeaky but warm fabric. 

“There you go,” Jeno grins, slinging Jaemin’s backpack over one of his shoulders. “It looks cute with that vest of yours.”

To prevent himself from saying anything embarrassing, Jaemin keeps his mouth shut and focuses on just  _ walking _ , and he thinks his silence makes Jeno laugh. But he doesn’t pay too much mind to it. 

Eventually, they reach Jaemin’s doorstep. 

Jeno gives Jaemin his bag back, and then smiles at him. 

“Are you going to have dinner now?” he asks, and Jaemin nods slowly. “Then, eat well, okay?” 

Again, Jaemin nods, not knowing why Jeno’s words make his heart beat faster. He’s heard the same thing from his friends and from his mom before, but for some reason, when Jeno says it, it makes him feel warm. 

“See you tomorrow,” Jeno bides.

“Tomorrow… thank you for walking me Jeno,” Jaemin says back abruptly, figuring he owed him that much. He has no idea where Jeno lives, and for all Jaemin knows, he might have to walk across town now.

“You know how to say thank you?” Jeno teases, but he does so with a smile on his face, so Jaemin just rolls his eyes. 

“Take it or leave it Lee,” he grumbles, and he stops breathing for a bit when Jeno’s eyes turn into crescents as he smiles. 

“I’ll take anything you give me,” he winks back, and while past Jaemin would’ve gagged, present Jaemin is finding it hard not to swoon. 

Ew… who was he becoming? 

“Okay that’s enough. Goodnight Jeno,” Jaemin sighs, hand moving to grab his doorknob. 

He thinks he sees Jeno’s features soften a little bit, but tells himself it’s just a trick of the light. Maybe it also helps with him not feeling too giddy right now. 

“Goodnight Jaeminnie.”

Jaemin doesn’t walk through the front door until Jeno’s frame disappears into the shadows, and it’s only then he realizes he’s still wearing his jacket. 

  
  
  


**> five **

Jaemin doesn’t really think twice before telling people he knows his address, because he knows them. What’s the worst that can happen, right? It’s like he’s setting himself up for murder or anything… 

Which is why it’s bit more than just a little alarming when Jaemin hears consistent tapping on his window, in the dead of the night two days after Jeno had walked him home. 

Realistically, he knew that no one was following them. One of them would’ve noticed if someone was, probably. 

Maybe…

Anyways, he’s still weary as he gets up from bed, the tapping not stopping even as he sets his feet onto the ground. He thinks that maybe it’d stop and his mind was just in a weird dream, but it doesn’t, and Jaemin briefly wonders if he should even entertain this. 

What if he like… dies, or something. Was he being dramatic? His parents have always taught him to be cautious though, and past midnight is when he’s heard a lot of crime happens. 

Jaemin decides he’s just psyching himself out though, and tells himself to suck it up and get a grip. There was probably nothing wrong, and he was just being paranoid. Yangyang always told him to live on the edge anyways… Shotaro did too, but he always said to be careful about it. 

And Jaemin prefers to listen to Shotaro over Yangyang, since Shotaro has a sense of rationality. 

And if Shotaro was here, then he’d tell Jaemin to bring a baseball bat with him as he checks what the tapping noise is, so that’s exactly what he does. He goes to his closet to retrieve the baseball bat that he had from his middle school little league times, and carries the bat that no longer feels heavy in his hands, towards his window. 

Jaemin pulls his curtain back slowly, holding his breath to prepare himself for what he’s going to see. 

And he feels ridiculous when all he sees is Lee Jeno standing outside his window, a pile of pebbles in his hands and that unbearable, infuriating,  _ adorable  _ grin on his face. 

Jaemin drops his bat immediately, just a bit embarrassed knowing that Jeno might see it. Jeno also is  _ not  _ a threat, despite whatever he wants people to think with his all black attire and black chunky boots. 

Jaemin lets out the breath he was holding, and his hands move quickly to unlock his window. The quicker the pebbles stop hitting his window, the less likely Jaemin’s parents are to wake up. And he’d get the scolding of his life if they find out he’s talking to some boy who’s on their lawn at almost 1:00am. 

“Jeno,” Jaemin hisses, peering his head out the window so that the sound travels outside, and not through his house. He doesn’t have a deathwish, not yet. He’s not Yangyang. “The hell are you doing here?”

“Jaeminnie,” he calls, like he always does, with the curve of his eyes and his bright, white teeth. “Come with me.”

“Are you  _ insane _ ?” Jaemin asks, glaring down at Jeno. “I can’t leave right now- and you shouldn’t have either.”

“They don’t have to know,” Jeno grins, and he sounds so laidback, that Jaemin wonders if he’s used to this. “I want to take you somewhere.”

“Now?” Jaemin scoffs, Jeno’s reasoning sounding ridiculous. Maybe it’s because he’s half awake or something. “You couldn’t have waited for the morning?”

“It looks better after midnight,” Jeno explains, and he shrugs, and this is the first time Jaemin sees him to look so…  _ boyish _ . “In the moonlight.”

Moonlight always sounds tempting, but so does a nice relationship with his parents. He’s going to get his ass beat if they find out he’s sneaked out in the middle of the night. 

“If they find out…”

“They won’t,” Jeno assures, and he sounds way too confident about it. Jaemin wonders just how many boys he’s sneaked out and swooned at night. “Not when you’re with me. I can keep you safe, don’t you know that already?” 

“Promise?” Jaemin finds himself asking, despite his better judgement. Maybe it’s just because Jeno looks ethereal under the moonlight. Jaemin wonders if he’ll ever be able to see it again. 

“Promise,” Jeno hums, and he looks self satisfied as Jaemin sighs, giving into temptation and looking over his shoulder, just to make sure that he’s still safe. 

“Give me five minutes,” he grumbles down to Jeno, who nods excitedly, pebbles falling onto the ground now that he doesn’t need them anymore. 

Jaemin closes his window, locks it, and then pulls the curtain over it before changing into a loose pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, aware of how chilly the night air is. He pulls socks over his feet, and tiptoes down the stairs so as to not make any noise. 

Unlocking the front door is a slow and anxious process, but he manages to slip out without the door creaking too much. 

“Jaemin,” Jeno greets brightly, not a care in the world for how Jaemin glares at him, or the way he hops on one leg as he puts on his shoe. “Hi.”

“Shut up, cut the ‘hi,’” Jaemin sighs, his tone a bit aggressive to hide the way he’s having a hard time with the way Jeno looks from this close. “Where are you taking me? Dad wakes up with the sun, I need to be home by then.”

“But a sunrise would’ve been nice with you,” Jeno pouts, and Jaemin has to look away before his heart decides to explode. Why was Jeno so cute? 

“Maybe another time,” Jaemin says back quietly, but Jeno hears it. He knows he has, because Jeno throws an arm over his shoulders and now they’re touching, and Jaemin feels like an entire zoo has been unleashed in his stomach. 

“That’s a promise Jaemie, no take backs,” Jeno hums as he leads Jaemin to a car. Jaemin thinks it’s Jaemin’s until he sees the stickers on the passenger’s side window. 

“Is this Mark’s car?” Jaemin asks incredulously, eyes wide as he looks between the car with it’s roof down, and Jeno’s smug face. “Jeno, did you- steal a car?”

“Don’t say it like that,” Jeno tsks, unlocking the car and holding the door open for Jaemin. “I’m simply borrowing it.  _ For you _ .”

Jaemin was not interested in being related to any crimes, but when it comes to Jeno, he thinks he can make an exception. 

Which is a dangerous thing, because it seems that he’s been making excuses for Jeno for a while now… 

Nonetheless, Jaemin pushes his inhibitions aside and steps into the car, sitting down and pretending like he didn’t find Jeno holding the door open for him chivalrous. Who cares anyways? It’s not a big deal that Jeno is the first boy who’s done that for him… 

“Where are we going?” Jaemin asks when Jeno puts his seatbelt on, twisting the key in the ignition and revving up the engine. He briefly contemplates asking Jeno to pull the roof up, since the air was terribly chilly, but decides against it when he sees how the wind rustles Jeno’s hair. 

Against his better judgement, Jaemin finds it attractive beyond words. 

“That’s a surprise,” Jeno says, and he sounds as excited as he does smug. Jaemin thinks he always sounds smug. “Just look at stars Jaeminnie, and I’ll take you to the moon.” 

Jeno must watch movies, Jaemin concludes as he watches the streets zoom by them as Jeno drives,  _ he must _ , because there’s no way he had just pulled those romantic words out of his ass. Doesn’t make any sense, even Yangyang couldn’t do that when he  _ tried  _ to woo people. 

But Jaemin doesn’t ask anymore, and he just looks at what his neighbourhood and the little town he knows looks like when no one is awake. He briefly wonders if he and Jeno are the only ones who are awake, but then realizes how unrealistic that is. 

The trees blur into one as Jeno drives, and the wind bites his cheeks and turns them red. Nonetheless, Jeno’s presence next to him is enough to keep him warm, and as he thinks this, he thinks that some of Yangyang’s sap had rubbed off on him. How disgusting. 

Jaemin  _ is  _ looking up at the stars, which is why he doesn’t notice where Jeno has driven them to until he stops the car. 

“It makes me think of you,” Jeno says as he turns the car off, and Jaemin looks in front of them, taking in the water, the sand, and the sound of the waves which kiss the shore. 

Jeno had driven them to the beach. 

Jaemin has only ever been to the beach during the day, when the sun was blazing and he was at the risk of sunburn. But now, the moon is who shines and the glow is pearlescent over the water. 

Jaemin concludes that he prefers the quiet tranquility of the beach at night. 

“Why?” he asks in reference to Jeno’s question, just in time for Jeno to take his seatbelt off and step out of the car. Jaemin follows. 

“Well, it is, isn’t it? I feel like you light up every room you walk into,” Jeno explains calmly, like he wasn’t wreaking havoc in Jaemin’s heart and making his palms sweat. “And I can’t speak for everyone, but whenever you’re around, I feel calm. Kind of the effect water has on you, hm?” 

Jaemin finds himself listening to the waves hitting the shore as Jeno says this, their calming  _ swoosh  _ which sounds like a lullaby. Does Jeno really think of him like this? 

“That’s your friend,” he finds himself saying instead, joining Jeno where he had made himself comfortable on the hood of the car. Jaemin does the same, and their shoulders touch, and Jaemin feels warm. “Donghyuck. Don’t you all call him  _ Haechan _ ?”

“Just because he likes being called Haechan,” Jeno shrugs, and when he looks up at the sky, he smiles, and he looks like he belongs under the moon. 

Jaemin doesn’t say anything because he can’t find words in his brain, speechless, breathless,  _ thoughtless _ at the sight of Jeno in front of him. Was it possible for someone to look this gorgeous under the moon? Maybe Jeno moonbathes instead of sunbathing… that was the only conclusion he could come to. 

“It’s different anyways. The moon is better than the sun. Everyone sees the sun, y’know? But the moon is special, because it always works hard when no one is looking,” Jeno explains, turning to look at Jaemin. 

Jen had caught him staring, but he doesn’t look or sound smug as he says,

“You’re special, Jaeminnie. And I’m lucky to see you.” 

  
  
  


**> plus one **

Jaemin had managed to sneak into his bedroom just half an hour before sunrise, tiptoeing his way up the stairs and waving goodbye to Jeno from his bedroom window. 

It was so nice, Jaemin felt like he was in a movie, until he heard footsteps in the hall, shattering his fantasies and reminding him that he had just narrowly dodged getting into serious trouble. 

Jaemin throws himself into bed just in time for his dad to crack his bedroom door open to see if he’s asleep, like he does every morning, and he lets out a breath of relief when the door closes again. 

Now in the comfort and warmth of his bed though, Jaemin feels exhaustion tug at his eyelids, fatigue settling into his bones, and his high from his adventure with Jeno coming crashing down. 

Jaemin makes sure his alarm for 7:00am is still set, and then shuts his eyes, succumbing to his long awaited, very deserved, sleep. 

Which doesn’t last as long as he’d like it to, obviously. 

Jaemin wakes up only two hours later with a swollen face, puffy eyes, and lethargy like no other. The only thing he wants to do is wrap himself in his warm blanket and fall asleep for the next twelve hours, but his impending science quiz is what makes him drag himself out of bed. 

His father has already left for work, like he normally does, and his mother was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the both of them before she had to leave for work, and he had to leave for school. 

Jaemin takes a really quick, but really cold shower, in hopes of waking him up. He does feel a little bit more refreshed as he steps out and gets dressed, styling his hair accordingly and slipping on one of his many beloved sweater vests. 

Yangyang used to make fun of them, but then Jaemin had dressed him up in a cute yellow one, and Yangyang has been silent since. With his belt looped through his trousers and his converse laced on his feet, and a jacket on top of it all to protect himself from the chilly air, Jaemin slings his bag over his shoulder and bides his mother a quick good morning, followed by a quick goodbye, as he grabs the sandwich she made on the go. 

Jaemin is the one who’s late today, and not Shotaro, like usual. Yangyang is already there with Shotaro at their normal spot by the picnic tables.

“You’re late,” Yangyang notes as Jaemin walks up to them, as if it wasn’t obvious enough already. “What’s that about?”

“Had a rough night,” Jaemin shrugs, not wanting to get into the details since he  _ knows  _ they’d both make fun of him for it. Maybe he will tell them in private though. He’s dying to tell someone about how nice Jeno smells anyways. 

“What’d you do? Steal someone’s jacket?”

“Huh?” Jaemin is confused at Shotaro's question, and he makes that much known as his eyebrows furrow. “What’re you talking about?”

Shotaro rolls his eyes, but he’s still helpful. Which is why he takes a step closer to Jaemin, and grabs onto the lapel of his jacket. tugging it forward until it squeaks a bit between his fingers. 

“Jaemin, you don’t own leather,” he says fondly, letting the fabric go and watching the way Jaemin freezes. “Where were you really, last night?” 

“Don’t freak out,” Jaemin says once he’s regained just a little bit of his composure, willing Yangyang and Shotaro to remain quiet so that they don’t embarrass him in public. “I’ll tell you, but just—”

“Jeno!” Yangyang suddenly exclaims, snapping his fingers in realization and pointing right at Jaemin. “That’s his jacket!” 

“No!” Jaemin immediately denies, whether it be out of habit, or if it’s because he’s feeling defensive. “Why would you even say that?”

“I’m not stupid,” Yangyang grins, grabbing one of Jaemin’s arms and twisting it just a bit, to show Jaemin something on the back of the sleeve. “ _ Lee, 23 _ ,” he reads, and he sounds so insanely smug. “That’s Jeno’s birthday,  _ and  _ Yukhei makes iron on patches for fun,” he says, and Jaemin feels the colour drain from his face.

Could everyone see that patch? Did everyone he passed this morning know that he was wearing Jeno’s jacket? 

He didn’t even mean to! It was just the first jacket he could find, and shrugged it on without even thinking twice. 

But if everyone knew—

“Hey! Lee!” 

Jaemin doesn’t even have time to whip his head around in time before someone’s arm slings over his shoulders, and there’s someone pressed next to him, and Jaemin is holding his breath in confusion.

“Have fun last night?” the voice asks, and Jaemin has to turn his head to the side just a bit to see that it’s Mark who has an arm around him. A very smug looking Mark who knows very well what he’s doing by calling him by Jeno’s last name. “You better have. I don’t even get gas money.”

Jaemin splutters around a promise to pay Mark for gas money if Jeno wouldn't, but it’s cut off short by Mark just laughing and slipping his arm away. 

“Don’t worry about it, Jeno promised me milkshakes anyways,” he shrugs, and then he grins knowingly at him. “You should join us. I have a feeling you will be, really, really soon.”

Jaemin doesn’t know what Mark is trying to say, but he doesn’t try to think about it too hard either. Shotaro and Yangyang look like they’re trying not to explode since they’re refraining from asking questions, and Jaemin kinda contemplates if he should just go home. 

But he can’t even think about it properly before someone else’s footsteps become louder behind him, and then a familiar voice calls,

“Jaeminnie,”

Jaemin turns around at the call as if he’s been programmed to, coming eye to eye with Jeno, with his hair messy, his eyes moons, and his smile present. When Jaemin looks down though, his mind shirt circuits once again.

Jeno’s wearing a leather jacket too, and now Jaemin knows that he doesn’t only have one. He also now knows that they’re… matching. 

“Why are you wearing that?” Jaemin blurts out, flushing at the amused look on Jaemin’s face. 

“Me? That’s my jacket, love, why are  _ you  _ wearing it?” he asks, eyebrow cocked up and everything Jaemin wishes he didn’t find as attractive as he did. 

“I didn’t notice,” he explains, even though he doesn’t think he has to. “I didn’t even realize I was wearing it.”

Jeno hums, and then both of his hands come up to adjust the lapel of the jacket, from when Shotaro had tugged on it. 

“You know what that means, right?” Jeno asks, and he takes a tentative step closer. Jaemin is suddenly returned to a few hours ago, when he and Jeno had been pressed right against each other. 

It makes him forget that he should probably take a step back. 

“Means you’re mine,” Jeno continues, and Jaemin’s mouth falls open. Maybe at the way his heart flutters, or at Jeno’s straightforwardness. 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Jaemin croaks out weakly, because he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to throw up rainbows when he heard Jeno say ‘ _ you’re mine.’ _

“Sure it does. So tell me, Lee Jaemin,” Jeno starts cheekily, his eyes flickering to the patch Yangyang had pointed out earlier. “Fancy a date? No milkshakes this time, I promise.”

Jeno grins as he asks, sigh his teeth bared beautifully and his eyes crinkled adorably, and when Jaemin is only half awake, terribly endeared, and has a heart beating a mile a minute in his chest, what was he supposed to do? Say no?

“Promise no milkshakes?” Jaemin asks instead, but there’s a glint in his eye that he knows Jeno sees, because the latter sticks a pinky finger out and laughs. 

“I promise, Na Jaemin,” he says, and that’s all it takes for Jaemin to extend his own pinky, their two fingers locking together in a promise. 

“Then I’d love a date, Lee Jeno.”

It’s impossible to keep the smile off of his face this time. 


End file.
